The Toyota HiLux ute has recorded the biggest year-to-date sales result for any new car in Australia in almost 20 years.
The Toyota HiLux regained its place at the top of the charts last month and now has an unassailable lead in the 2022 new-car sales race – where it is on track to clock up its seventh annual win in a row.
The Toyota HiLux is the first ute to ever lead new-car market locally, and for such a length of time.
After breaking its annual sales record by the end of October 2022, the Toyota HiLux is now achieving higher sales numbers than the hey-day of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in the early 2000s – before both homegrown sedans started their steady decline to extinction in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Data released today shows Toyota has reported as sold a record 60,120 examples of the HiLux ute to the end of November 2022.
The tally smashes the previous annual record for the Toyota HiLux of 52,801 set in 2021 – and represents the biggest year-to-date sales result for any new car in Australia in almost 20 years.
The last time the Holden Commodore eclipsed the 60,000 mark in a calendar year was in 2005, and the Ford Falcon last passed this milestone in 2004.
The new-generation Ford Ranger ute was the top-selling 4×4 vehicle in November 2022 – but ranked second outright as a nameplate after briefly holding top spot in October 2022.
However, the Ford Ranger is more than 17,000 sales behind the Toyota HiLux in the year-to-date tally.
New-car sales figures released today showed demand for motor vehicles remains in positive territory despite seven interest rate rises in a row (a total of 2.75 per cent since May 2022, and the highest cash rate since April 2013), assembly line slowdowns, and shipping bottlenecks.
Against these headwinds, November 2022 was the fifth month in a row of year-on-year growth after three consecutive months in decline.
Official data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries released today shows 95,080 new motor vehicles were reported as sold in November 2022 (up 17.9 per cent compared to the same month last year).
Last month’s result was 6.2 per cent lower than the November record set in 2017 – and 0.4 per cent less than the five-year November average prior to the pandemic.
Year-to-date growth remains relatively flat: the tally for the first 11 months of the year of 993,509 is up by 2.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.
In other upsets, new cars from China outsold those from South Korea – and two Chinese brands made it inside the Top 10, MG and GWM Haval – for the second time this year.
Kia outsold its sibling brand Hyundai year-to-date for the 11th time this year, and increased the sales gap from its in-house rival. If Kia outsells Hyundai in the annual sales race, it will be the first time it has done so in Australian automotive history.
Both Kia and Hyundai say they are struggling for vehicle stock, however shortages and shipping delays appear to be having a greater impact on Hyundai, which was only 22 sales ahead of MG last month.
As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the majority of new cars reported as sold in November 2022 were ordered months earlier – or even as far back as last year.
Market leader Toyota continued its dominance – accounting for one in five new cars sold.
After finishing in second place in October 2022 – the blue oval brand’s highest monthly ranking since September 1999 – Ford was third in November behind Toyota and Mazda, driven by the sales surge from the new Ford Ranger.
Ford Australia’s previous best monthly ranking was third outright in June and July 2021. Before that, Ford had not ranked inside the Top Three outright in the monthly sales charts since October 2012.
The last time Ford Australia was consistently in third place in the annual sales charts was the 14 years leading up to 2011.
The last time Ford led the Australian new-car market was in 1997 (at the time, its third year in a row at the top).
MG ranked seventh last month – for the ninth time this year – and has never been outside the Top 10 so far in 2022.
Fellow Chinese brand Great Wall Motors Haval secured 10th place for the first second time in the monthly sales race – for the second month in a row.
While electric-car specialist Tesla shocked the industry with a seventh-place result in September 2022, it ranked 12th in November 2022 after slipping to 19th place in October 2022, demonstrating that its sales results are a reflection of shipment arrivals.
TOP 10 CARS IN November 2022
| Rank | Model | Volume November 2022 | Change year-on-year |
| 1 | Toyota HiLux | 5440 | up 28.7 per cent |
| 2 | Ford Ranger | 5073 | up 14.5 per cent |
| 3 | Toyota Corolla | 3732 | up 77.4 per cent |
| 4 | MG ZS | 3051 | up 93.6 per cent |
| 5 | Toyota RAV4 | 2282 | up 25.4 per cent |
| 6 | Mazda CX-5 | 1949 | up 146.7 per cent |
| 7 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 1875 | up 14.8 per cent |
| 8 | Kia Sportage | 1844 | up 168.8 per cent |
| 9 | Tesla Model Y | 1805 | Data not available |
| 10 | Hyundai Tucson | 1734 | up 12.5 per cent |
TOP 10 CAR BRANDS IN November 2022
| Rank | Brand | Volume November 2022 | Change year-on-year |
| 1 | Toyota | 20,107 | up 31.9 per cent |
| 2 | Mazda | 7549 | up 42.6 per cent |
| 3 | Ford | 7165 | up 15.3 per cent |
| 4 | Kia | 6120 | up 24.5 per cent |
| 5 | Mitsubishi | 5559 | down 2.8 per cent |
| 6 | Hyundai | 5519 | down 19.5 per cent |
| 7 | MG | 5479 | up 46.9 per cent |
| 8 | Subaru | 3701 | up 36.5 per cent |
| 9 | Volkswagen | 3045 | down 1.7 per cent |
| 10 | GWM Haval | 2914 | up 47.8 per cent |
Passenger cars: Top Three in each segment in November 2022
| Micro | Kia Picanto (573) | Fiat/Abarth 500 (6) | Mitsubishi Mirage (4) |
| Light < $25k | MG 3 (1453) | Mazda2 (728) | Suzuki Swift (429) |
| Light > $25k | Mini Hatch (87) | Audi A1 (30) | Citroen C3 (5) |
| Small < $40k | Toyota Corolla (3732) | Hyundai i30 (1355) | Mazda3 (664) |
| Small > $40k | Audi A3 (207) | Mercedes-Benz A-Class (178) | BMW 2 Series (73) |
| Medium < $60k | Toyota Camry (531) | Mazda6 (185) | Skoda Octavia (93) |
| Medium > $60k | Tesla Model (391) | Mercedes-Benz C-Class (284) | BMW 3 Series (245) |
| Large < $70k | Kia Stinger (107) | Skoda Superb (25) | Citroen C5 X (15) |
| Large > $70k | BMW 5 Series (37) | Mercedes-Benz E-Class (32) | Audi A6 (25) |
| Upper Large < $100k | Chrysler 300 (0) | ||
| Upper Large > $100k | BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe (13) | Porsche Panamera (6) | Mercedes-Benz S-Class (5) |
| People Movers | Kia Carnival (462) | Hyundai Staria (212) | Volkswagen Multivan (35) |
| Sports < $80k | Ford Mustang (207) | BMW 2 Series Coupe (167) | Subaru BRZ (118) |
| Sports > $80k | BMW 4 Series coupe/convertible (63) | Porsche Cayman/Boxster (45) | Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe/convertible (25), Toyota Supra (25) |
| Sports > $200k | Porsche 911 (21) | Lamborghini sports cars (13) | Ferrari sports cars (11) |
SUVs: Top Three in each segment in November 2022
| Light SUV | Mazda CX-3 (1207) | Toyota Yaris Cross (735) | Suzuki Jimny (595) |
| Small SUV < $40k | MG ZS (3051) | Mitsubishi ASX (1037) | Subaru XV (895) |
| Small SUV > $40k | Audi Q3 (697) | Volvo XC40 (348) | Volvo C40 (243) |
| Medium SUV < $60k | Toyota RAV4 (2282) | Mazda CX-5 (1949) | Mitsubishi Outlander (1875) |
| Medium SUV > $60k | Tesla Model Y (1805) | Lexus NX (362) | Audi Q5 (321) |
| Large SUV < $70k | Ford Everest (1312) | Isuzu MU-X (1218) | Kia Sorento (1063) |
| Large SUV > $70k | Mercedes-Benz GLE (339) | BMW X5 (281) | Audi Q7 (178) |
| Upper Large SUV < $100k | Toyota LandCruiser wagon (1477) | Nissan Patrol wagon (268) | |
| Upper Large SUV > $100k | Mercedes-Benz GLS (69) | Audi Q8 (32) | Lexus LX (15) |
Utes and vans: Top Three in each segment in November 2022
| Vans < 2.5t | Peugeot Partner (37) | Volkswagen Caddy (17) | Renault Kangoo (5) |
| Vans 2.5t-3.5t | Toyota HiAce van (730) | LDV G10 (282) | Hyundai Staria Load (134) |
| 4×2 Utes | Toyota HiLux (1281) | Ford Ranger (594) | Mitsubishi Triton (242) |
| 4×4 Utes | Ford Ranger (4479) | Toyota HiLux (4159) | Isuzu D-Max (1422) |
The post VFACTS November 2022: Toyota HiLux sales overtake Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon from two decades ago appeared first on Drive.